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The crew prepare to leave

dehydration
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So he’s had his bolus of fluid now, how far from the children’s hospital are we? Children’s is about 30 minutes from here. I better give them a ring and tell them that we’re coming and to provide alert. You’re taking him in? Absolutely, so what we need to do is a number of tests that we can’t perform in the ambulance, which I’m sure you can appreciate that. There are some tests Ben really needs to have done. Ok, what we’re going to do is take him under emergency conditions with the blue lights and sirens. Oh God… There’s nothing for you to worry, the golden rule is you can look worried when we look worried so don’t panic. Alright?
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It’s perfectly normal for this kind of condition. We just kind of give them a heads up of what we’re doing. Ok? So we’re just going to pack all our things away and get ready to leave and have you get everything you need to go? What’s the matter with him? At the moment it’s very difficult for us to say and give you a proper diagnosis in this situation. There’s a number of things we think could be happening. Ok. His blood sugars are very high. Alright? He’s very dehydrated and he’s breathing, you know, we got to assist him with his breathing and we’re going to help him with that. So there’s no need for you to worry.
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All you need to worry about is get your things to get ready to go and then we’ll leave. That sounds great, thanks. Just to keep you in the loop dad. He’s obviously now in the child harness, just to keep him safe. Alright? We are going to be travelling under emergency conditions to the hospital. As I said, it’s nothing for you to worry about, just so we can get him in quickly and provide him with treatment that he needs.
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Jordan’s just going to do another quick set of observations, unfortunately that the treatment that we’ve given his blood sugar is still very high, and so the team at the emergency department will be able to lower those blood sugars and make him ultimately better. What we need to do is pop the little oxygen mask on his face. Again don’t worry about it, it’s just to help him out with his breathing a little bit. And as a protective measure, we’d like to guard against children who are less perfused, ok? So we’d like to keep him hydrated. That’s what we’re going to do now. Nothing for you to worry about. As I said; you can look worried when we start to be worried.
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Alright? So you don’t have to do that. Ok. Shall we put your mask on now? Yes. Ready? It’s just going to go over your face. Yes. He’s a superhero. There we go. Wow, look at you! That’s it. Good boy. Ok. Jordan, do you mind just doing that and giving him a quick ring to let them know we’re coming? Yes sure.

Cam is clearly thinking that Ben has undiagnosed diabetes. Do you agree with his decision not to disclose this possible diagnosis to Dad?

As a parent, would you like to be told by the paramedics of a potential diagnosis, or would you prefer to wait until it has been properly confirmed by the hospital?

Share your thoughts below.

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Emergency and Urgent Care for Children: a Survival Guide

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